Yeast Starters, a must for certain styles?

I had posted this a few minutes ago, but for some reason it isn't showing up in the forum. Having used dried yeast for all of my brew's, I was wondering at what point is making a yeast starter a must? Or is it a must? I've for example never seen a recipe for a RIS that wasn't followed by 'huge starter!'

I use a starter every time I use liquid yeast, but I only consider it absolutely necessary when brewing lagers or ales over 1.060 or so.

Dry yeast doesn't need a starter because of the very high number of cells in the packet. You can pitch two packets to get a proper pitching rate for a very big beer, if necessary.

Speaking of pitching rates, you can calculate yours at Mr Malty's calculator.

As Tonedef noted, it's a good idea to do a starter with any liquid yeast to let the yeast colony grow to an appropriate size for the beer you're making. At the very least, you've made sure your yeast is happy and ready to roll before being pitched into your real beer.

You hear "must make starter" with RIS recipes because they tend to be very big beers - high in fermentables, so you want a bigger yeast colony to get a good fermentation going.

-Joe

For the 9-9-9 Barleywine I used three packages of dry yeast.

Now that dry yeast is $3.50 a sachet I'll be using a lot less though... I don't get why dry yeast prices have doubled in the last year.

Makes allot of sense Joe. If you wanted to use dried yeast for a RIS would it be a case of just pitching an extra pack?

Graeme said:

Makes allot of sense Joe. If you wanted to use dried yeast for a RIS would it be a case of just pitching an extra pack?

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Yes, in a beer that big you could go broke using liquid yeast. Most people will pitch multiple packs of dry or repitch from the cake of a previous smaller beer.

IMHO... a yeast starter is ALWAYS a must if using liquid yeast. If you're using dry yeast, you should have plently to use without a starter.

I am in desperate need of a sticky on this topic! Dry yeast starters, liquid starters, stir plates,"the shake" and how much for what beers. This to me has been all over the board with just bits and pieces.
Just a thought

Cold_Steel said:

I am in desperate need of a sticky on this topic! Dry yeast starters, liquid starters, stir plates,"the shake" and how much for what beers. This to me has been all over the board with just bits and pieces.
Just a thought

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Everything you need to know can be found here, it's the most concise writeup I have found:

Fourteen Essential Questions About Yeast Starters

Once you have read that all you need is the pitching rate calculator to get you in the right ballpark:

Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

Tonedef131 said:

Everything you need to know can be found here, it's the most concise writeup I have found:

Fourteen Essential Questions About Yeast Starters

Once you have read that all you need is the pitching rate calculator to get you in the right ballpark:

Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

Click to expand...

Wow your not kidding this is a great LINK!!!! Thanks

In general, high gravity brews and clean profile beers (like lagers) ALWAYS require large starters. You're not just trying to get a short lag time, you're also trying to minimize off-flavors that result from yeast growth. For light to medium range beers (<1.060 OG), a starter is ideal and it's good practice, but you can still get good beer by pitching the vial/pack straight. In beers that have a lot of yeast character like weizens or witbiers, overpitching can actually hurt you since the ester and phenolic flavors are a byproduct of yeast growth.